Scout Sunday: “Compassion. Culture. Community.”
Scouts recite the words of the 125th Anniversary theme during Scout Sunday at the Buddhist Church of Sacramento. (February 4, 2024)
This year’s Scout Sunday proved extra special as scouts paid tribute to the Buddhist Church of Sacramento’s 125th anniversary.
Scout leader Paul Helman was the event’s guest speaker on February 4, 2024. During his remarks, he asked each scout to give their respective three-finger salute. And to remember that each finger also honors the triumvirate, Compassion. Culture. Community. — the theme for our 125th anniversary.
In 1974, Paul was recruited as a unit commissioner for the Golden Empire Council, the local Boy Scout council. As a liaison for the troops, his first assignment connected him with the Buddhist Church of Sacramento. It was the beginning of a 50-year friendship.
“Compassion, Culture, Community, a triumvirate of concepts, ideas, and thoughts to guide us all ever onward.”
Today, the Buddhist Church of Sacramento sponsors several scouting programs, which are open to everyone:
Boy Scouts of America (BSA) Troop 50B (for boys), founded in 1924, will mark its 100th anniversary.
Cub Scouts Pack 50, founded in 1974, will celebrate its 50th anniversary.
Girl Scout Troop 569, established in 1992, has been together for 32 years. They will celebrate their 30th anniversary this year since they missed out during the pandemic.
BSA Troop 50G (for girls) founded in 2020, is a four-year-old program.
Reflecting on the anniversary’s theme, Paul said, “Compassion is central to the values of scouting.”
“Friendly, courteous, and kind are the 4th, 5th, and 6th points of the Scout Law, all are central to a life of compassion,” he said, adding that Culture and Community follow hand in hand.
“The great late philosopher and thinker Joseph Campbell, author of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, taught us that culture is how the elder generation teaches needed success skills to the younger generation,” Paul explained.
“With this cultural transfer, we enable the future of our communities, the communities that nurtured our parents, us, our children, grandchildren, future generations, and so it goes,“ he added. “Compassion, Culture, Community, a triumvirate of concepts, ideas, and thoughts to guide us all ever onward.”
As a youth, Paul earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest possible for the Boy Scouts of America. And the scouting tradition continues in his family — Paul’s granddaughter is a member of our BSA Troop 50G.
Color Guard representatives at the end of the Scout Sunday service at the Buddhist Church of Sacramento.